The Cleaver nodded, slid the scythe into its fixture on his back, and scooped Melancholia into his arms. Then he took off running, and Valkyrie did her best to keep up.

Chapter 57 - Beheaded

Chapter 57
Beheaded

he echo of their footsteps changed, and they emerged from the tunnel into a cavern with a still lake in the middle. It was vast and black.

Valkyrie heard footsteps and turned as Vaurien Scapegrace charged out of the darkness, yelling a war cry. The White Cleaver suddenly thrust Melancholia into Valkyrie’s arms. His scythe glinted, and Scapegrace’s head popped off. Valkyrie stared as his body kept running and toppled into the water.

The White Cleaver swished his scythe into its fixture, then took Melancholia back from Valkyrie. There was another cry, this time a long, mournful wail, as Thrasher staggered towards them.

“What have you done?” he cried. “What have you done?”

“Don’t kill him,” Valkyrie told the White Cleaver. Melancholia nodded her agreement, and so when Thrasher was close enough, the White Cleaver merely kicked him. Thrasher went hurtling back into the shadows.

Valkyrie hesitated, then picked up Scapegrace’s head. She’d never liked him. The first time she’d met him, he’d tried to throw her off a building. Time and time again, he’d tried to kill her, until his failures actually started to endear him to her. She realised she had begun to view him as a dumb little puppy who would always turn up, sooner or later, to chew on her sock or poo in her shoe. She was going to miss him.

He swivelled his eyes to her and she yelped and dropped his head. He bounced, and landed on his ear.

“I’ll get you,” he wheezed. “All of you. You’re dead!”

Valkyrie didn’t know what to do. She glanced back. Even Melancholia’s eyes widened in surprise.

Valkyrie picked up the head again. “Sorry,” she said.

Scapegrace tried to bite her hand, and she slapped him lightly.

“Behave.”

“When my Master hears about this—”

“Scapegrace, what the hell are you doing down here?”

He sneered. “I’ll never tell!”

“Who’s your Master?”

“I’ll never tell you that, either!”

“How did you even get here?”

“Let me bite you. Just let me bite you.”

She slapped him again. “Scapegrace, listen to me. You’ve got a choice. Either tell me what I want to know, or I throw you into the lake.”

“I’m not afraid!” Scapegrace said defiantly.

“Are you sure about that? On the lake bed, all alone. Who knows how long it’ll take for you to rot away?”

“Go to hell!”

“I wonder what strange mutant monster fish they have down here. I bet they’ll start to nibble at you.”

“You can’t scare me!”

“You’ll go mad first, of course. Mad with despair. Mad with hopelessness. It could take years.”

“Shut up,” Scapegrace said feebly.